One thing a counselor might mistakenly do is cause love to "make sense" to you. The reason why that would be a mistake is that love is YOUR OWN "personal creativity". If you allow it to make sense to you, then you will no longer be able to FEEL it, neither will you really be able to SHOW it, it is spontaneous, the momentary experience of life. The ability to feel heartbreak and sorrow ARE love, lack of that ability is "NOT LOVE" (momentary fun only, emptiness, distraction from life).
Somewhere along the line, you have learned to think that there is no valid reason that you should recieve it (that's the low self-esteem part). Employers can consider you worthy of a paycheck and give you what you deserve, but nobody can be worthy of the love that is given to them (being deserving has nothing to do with love, different paradigm altogether). You will feel (recieve) love "almost" (not sure, don't want to figure it out or let it make sense) in direct proportion to how much you DON'T consider it proper compensation.